Railroad spreader



.S p .1931- H. w. PROTZELLER RAILROAD SPREADER Filed July 26. 1928 3 Sheets-Sheetv l Sept. 8, 1931. I

H. W. PROTZELLER RAILROAD SPREADER Filed July 26. 1928 II M W 20 l g4 Imfenibr fi /wb w? mum A 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Sept. 8, V 1931 H'ARRYVW. PRQTZELLER, on nns'r oHIcAoo,

INDIANA, ASSIGNOR T0 0. F. .ionnnly com;

PAINT, GE EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA, A CORPORATION ,OFINDIAINA,

' I RAILROAD SPREADER Application filed July 26,

This invention relates to improvements in railroad spreaders and it consists of the me ters hereinaiterdesc"ibed and more partic ularly pointed out in the appended claims.

The primary object of the invention is to provide in a railroad spreader, an improved brace construction between the car and main Still another object of the invention is to provi 'le a telescopic brace for the wing, the parts of which brace may be frictionally hieked together and this'bya novel arrangement of parts carried by" the brace itself.

objects of the invention as well as others together with many advantages thereof will more fully appear as Iproceed with my specification,

In the drawings Fig. 1 is'a top plan view of a; railroad spreader embodying the improved form of wing brace. f

Fig. 2 is a detail view in side elevation on an enlarged scale of the associated end parts of the brace and the means for locking said parts together.

F 3 is a transverse vertical detail sectional view ona further enlarged scale as takenon the line 3-3 of Fig.2.

Fig. 4 is detail view in side elevationo one of. the levers embodied in the locking means for the brace.

Fig. 5 is another detail sectionalview as taken on the line 55 of Fig. 3.

I F 6 is a horizontal detail sectional View as taken on the line 66 ofFig. 5.

Referring now in detail to that embodiment of the invention illustrated in the accompanying drawings, 1 indicates as a whole the car oi ia railroadspreader and 22 in- 1928. Serial No. 295,451.,

dicate the main spreader or side 'wings; arranged one at each side of thecari" In Fig. 1 the decking of the car has been omitted for? the purpose or" more fully showing the under framing thereof. H 1 l Said under framing includes side sills 33 suitably connected together and extending; from end to end ofthecar. .At the front end of the car and spaced laterally outward from said "sills are shorter sills 44: thus pi'ovid ing a wider frame orplatform part 5 at said end of the car which is pointed in the usual manner to. accommodate the associated V shaoed front plow 5 i 1 At the rear end of the car and spaced laterally from the sills 33 are shorter sills" 66 which are suitably connected together and the front end of each shorter sills'6is oilset inwardly to meet and be secured to an associated sill- 3. "This provides a wider frame or platform part 7 at the rear end or" the car andassociated with each platform is alsuitaole wheel truck 8+8. The @011 structionjust above generally described, pr o vi des a substantially I arrow shaped "ear body with wider front and rear end parts andja' narrower intermediate part, thiis formingcut in or recessed sides for the car in which 'the' wings are disposed when the car is in transit from one point of use toanother 4 At each side of the car, a suitable distance to the rear of the wider front lat orm pan 5 is an upright wing carriage post"9,suitably secured to and supported from thesidef sills.- Each postis preferably tubular and mounted thereon for vertical-guided movement hinge bracket plate 10. Said bracket is p e'rerably bifurcated to 1-eceivetl1e inner end of a wing 2' and said wing is hinged in the bracket plate by a horizontalpin If Suitably connected to eachpost is arm:12the free end of which is'conne'cted to a piston" of a compressed fluid cylinder 13 carried ori'the car under tra ning asbestshown Fig. 11 As is apparent in said figure each cylinder is disposed on that side of the car opposite the one upon which its associated wing is located. Thus when fluid under pressure is adm it'te d to one end of a cylinder it will swingthe as sociated wing about its carriage post, away from the car as best shown at he bottom of Fig. 1, and when fluid under pressure is admitted to the other end of said cylinder, the wing is swung in toward the side of the car as best shown at the top of said Fig. 1. its the construction just described will form the subject matter of a separate application to be tiled later, it will not be described in detail herein.

lVith each wing is associated a power cylinder by which. the wing may be swung into different vertical angular positions about the pin 11 which connects the inner end of the wing to the bracket plate 10. From the above, it is apparent that the wingmay be readily swung from an inoperative position parallel with the cut in sides of the car to an operative position at an angle thereto and that when said wing is in its operative posi tion, its outer end may be swung up or down to give the desired vertical angularity thereto.

Associated with each wing is one or more braces, the function of which is to hold the wing in the desired angular position with respect to the car and to receive the thrust or load imposed upon the wing in service and to transmit it to the under framing of the car. Heretofore the braces have been made of telescopic I beam and channel arrangement and in some cases telescopic tubes are employed but in each instance locking pins and holes were provided to lock the braces in the desired extended position. Such arrangements have not proven satisfactory because the position of the locking pin in the desired hole, determined the angular position of the wing and in some instances the correct angle could not be attained because of the location of the pin and hole. Again with the I beam and channel brace, a serious twist was imposed upon the same when changing the vertical angle of the wing and when telescopic tubular members were our ployed having locking pins and holes, the pin could not always be brought into position with the hole because of the radial angular displacement between the two due to the relative twisting between the tubular brace parts when the vertical angular position of the wing was thus changed.

The present brace-s, now about to be de scribed, eliminate the objections above noted. As shown in Fig. 1, I provide inner and outer braces 16 and 17 for each wing and as they are substantially alike in structure and only different in length, a detailed description of one will sufiice for both.

Each brace includes inner and outer tubular members or pipes 18 and 19 respectively. In this instance the inner pipe member 18 is of a larger diameter, and on the outer end thereof is fixed a clamp guide casting 20 with a reduced end sleeve 21 in which the inner end of the outer brace member 19 has a snug fit that will permit of a longitudinal as well as a turning movement of said member in said sleeve. Preferably this casting is removably secured to the outer end of the inner brace member by bolts as best shown in Figs. 3 and 5 respectively and in the top and bottom sides of said casting are rectangular openings 23 and 2& respectively which register with similar openings in the pipe 18. 0n that end of the pipe 19 which telescopes within the pipe 18 is fixed. a collal 25 having a snug sliding fit with the interior surface of the pipe 1%, to coact with the sleeve 21 and thus provide the proper hearing between the pipes 18 and 19.

Disposed within the pipe 18 so as to partially surround the pipe 19, are top and bottom clamping blocks or shoes 26 and 27 respectively, each of which has a central portion 26 27 respectively which extend through the openings 28 and 24 respectively, before mentioned. The central portion 27 of the bottom block or shoe 2? is formed to provide a downwardly facing boss 28 that engages in a seat 29 on a transversely disposed pressure bar or beam 30. In the boss 28 is a vertically disposed opening 31 which registers with a similar opening 32 in the pressure beam 30. The opening 31 is of a peculiar formation in that its bottom end made as a transversely extending slot 51 while the top end is enlarged to provide a shoulder 31 and in said shoulder at opposite sides of the slot are recesses til -31. A T shaped bolt connects the said block and pressure beam together and the top end of said bolt has a head 33 which is transversely elongated so that it maybe inserted up through the slot 31 and then turned to engage in the recesses 31", there being a nut on the bottom end of the bolt for the purpose readily apparent. .Vhen necessary as when the braking or gripping surface of the block becomes worn, the same may be taken up or compensated therefor by placing one or more shims 35 between the boss 28 and seat 29.

In the central portion 26 of the block or shoe 26 is a recess 26" which receives the stem 36 of an upright pressure post 37, a pin 38 securin the stem in place in said recess. The top end of said post has a transversely extending opening 39 in which is journalled a stub shaft 40 and to the end extensions of said shafts are secured depending links l141.

The pressure beam 30 has end trunnions 3O -S0 and journalied thereon are the bottom ends of substantially upright links l2 i-2, tae mid portions of which have guided bearing between longitudinally spaced lugs or shoulders 4l343 on each side of the bracket casting 20 as best shown in Fig 2 and 3.

Associated with said links is a pair of levers id-4st. Each lever is provided at its bottom end with laterally extending, oppo- 'sitely and 'e'c'centr'ically disposed inner and outer'trunnions45 and 46 respectively. As best shown in Fig. 4, the saidtrunnions are offset along a-pla'ne at less than a right angle tothe longitudinal plane ofthe lever itself.

Theouter trunnion of eachleverbe'arsi'nza suitable opening in the top end of an associated link'42 while the inner trunnion of each lever bearsin an Opening in the bottom end of an associated link 41 as best shown in Fig. 8. The top ends of the levers 4:4:44 are connected by a crossshaft 47 and on said shaft between said levers is journalled a T shaped cross head 48.

seem-ea to the pipe"1'8 a suitable distance inwardly from the casting 20, is a clamp'like bracket 49 which includesa pair of upwardly extending arms 19 49 Associated with thisbracket is a cylinder 50 having front and rear end heads 51- 52 respectively and in this instance the rear end head is pivoted bya pin '53 to and between the bracket arms 49 49 Apiston rod 54 slides through the front end head 51 and one end thereof carries a piston 55'disposed 'inthe cylinder while the" other end of said rod is connected tothe crosshead 48 before mentioned. Suitable pressure fluid inlet and outlet'56 and 57 respectively areiiXed insaid heads so that motive fluid under pressure may be admitted to either 7 end of the cylinder to move the piston in the inFig. lwhile the inner end of the pipe18 has auniversu joint connection with the under framing of the car as indicated as awhole at 59in said'figure. The ball and socket oint connection 58 is such as will permit a turning movementof the pipe 19 with respect to the wing without a separation therebetween while the universal joint connection is suchas will.

' permit the brace as a wholet o' swing in toward or cutaway from the car as well as upwardly or downwardly. Said umversal o1nt,

' however,'will not permit a turning or twisting of'said pipe with reference to said car un- I der framing.

scribed is as follows 4 Assume that both wings are folded'in towardthe car as shown at the top"of'Fig. -1. When it is desired to swing one ofthe wings into an operative position as shown' at the bottom'of Fig. 1, air is admitted'to'the proper cylinder-13 which through the associated arm 12 will swing said wing into its operative position about the associated wing post as an axis. In this'movement of the wing, the pipe section 19 will slide in the pipe section fthe gripping -18,it being "understod that nw motive fluid underepressure iis in: thecylinders and that the IeversP H standnin-'the-:position of minimumlo'ad-asindicated in dotted lines in Fig. QI'ItiWhlCh time theshoesonblocks26- are exerting no pressure or gripping-ectionon the pipe 19.

j Whenj the desired ioperativeangular. pfosition of the "wing 1 has been 1" reached, fluid 'un derlpressure is' admitted through the conduit 156 to-th-e srear enbl of the cylinder 50,

"fluid in advance of the piston :55 therein pa'ssin'g out through the'acond-uit 57 and *thiough the valve mechanism the. car toy-atmosphere. As thefpiston moves' forward'lyg the levers 44? are swung into'the amaximum load position shown'in- 1 111 =1ines in Fig. 2. -As the levers thusmove into -'said:- position, the eccentric trunnions orrtheir-bottomends will produce an upward movement of the links 42 andassociatedparts and a downward movement 'ofthe links 41andiassociatedxpartsthus causing the blocks or shoes to izfr'ictionalzly clamp or look upon thez'pipe 1.9 to-lock it 'to the P "It has been! demonstrated in 1 actual use t-hat by w nn n the blocks 26 27v-fupon ithepi -a clamping t'or frictionally described, the brace may be held in its-ex- "tended "condition under far zi'greater load "strains imposed by thewviiig thanxwvas' here- .t'ofore' possible to' "hold" with the-pin and hole type :of lock rprviously employed. 1 Should the wingtend 'to' fioatup or d'OWII JdHGfO, :the uneven surfaces operated upon,"='oraif it becomes necessary ito'-change the vertical angle 1 ofthe wing," for any' 'reason, this is possible after unlockingthevpipe 19 and should the plpe 1'9 =tuin duringthis foperati omrit will in no manner interfere with ethe relocking "because on registratlon' of locking pin and hole need-be takeni-nto consideration.v

When it is desired "to swing thevwirigback into its inoperativeposition a'longsidepf the car, the fluid isshut oii from theeylinder "50 thus releasing the-grippingaction on the pipe 19 and as saidwin-gswings inwardly the pipe -19 is free'to *sli'de'in" the; :pipe 1'8 and-thus telescope and foreshorten-as is necessary.

Should "the pipe engaging surface of'tlie bottom gripping block or shoe become worn, the links'4242 are removed, and the nut is unscrewed from the bolt 233 so that ';the pressure beam may be removed :to permit inser- 'The operation of the mechanism'above detion" of "additional and wear compensati-ng shims between'the boss28 'and'seat29 after place necessary upon the' pipe 19. The parts employed are strong andrigid' and easily accessible' for inspection when: necessary and cannot readily get an ofoi-der.

-While in 'describing my invention rem r manyiadblocks"onsh'oes' grip :uponany (Lin referred in detail to the form andarrangement of the parts thereof, the same is to be taken as by way of illustration only and I do not wish to belimited thereto except as may be more specifically pointed out in the appended claims.

I claim as my invcntion:

1. In combination with coacting tubular telescopic members, a guide on one of said members, means movable in said guide at a right angle to one of said members and extending at least part way around the other member and conforming to the associated surface thereof and adapted to be moved into engagement therewith to frictionally hold said members against relative movement.

2. In combination with two coacting tubular telescopic members, a guide on one of said members, means movable in said guide at a right angle to one of said members and extending at least part way around the other member and conforming to the associated surface thereof and adapted to be moved into and out of such frictional engagement with said surface of the other of said members as to lock them together andmeans for impart mg such movement to sa1d first mentloned 3. In combination with a pair ofcoacting tubular telescopic members, a guide on one of said members,.a plurality of friction blocks mounted in said guide and having surfaces conforming with and partly surrounding portions of the other of said members and adapted to engage therewith, and means for simultaneously imparting movement to said blocks in said guide to bring said surfaces into and out of engagement with said portions of the other of said members.

4. In combination with a pair of coacting inner and outer tubular telescopic members, a. guide on the outer telescopic member coacting gripping blocks having portions partly surrounding the inner member and adapted to be moved in said'guide in the same plane toward and away from opposite sides of said inner member and into and out of frictional engagement therewith and means for imparting simultaneous movement to said blocks.

5. In combination with a pair of coacting inner and outer tubular telescopic members, coacting gripping blocks having portions partly surrounding the inner member and adapted to be moved in said guide in the same i plane toward and away from opposite sides of said inner member intoand out of frietional engagement therewith, an actuating.

member common to both gripping blocks and means for connecting said actuating member and blocks for moving said blocks in opposite directions toward and away from said inner member to frictionally secure and release the same from the outer member.

6. In combination with a. pair of coacting inner and outer tubular telescopic members,

coacting gripping blocks having portions partly surrounding the inner member and conforming to the exterior surface thereof, which blocks are adapted to be moved in the same. plane in said guide toward and away from opposite sides of said inner member, an actuating member common to both gripping blocks and means including opposed eccentric devices arranged outside of said guide for connecting said actuating member and blocks for moving them 1!] opposite directions toward and away from and into and out of frictional locking engagement with said inner member.

7. In combination with a pair of coacting inner and outer tubular telescopic members, coacting gripping blocks having portions partly surrounding the inner meml er and conforming to the exterior surface thereof, Which blocks are adapted to be moved in the same plane in said guide toward and away from opposite sides of said inner member, a lever common to both gripping blocks and having opposed eccentric devices thereon and links arranged outside of the guide for operatively connecting each block with one of said eccentrics.

8. In combination with inner and outer telescopic tubes, a guide casting on the outer tube, a frictional gripping member movable in said casting and having a portion partially surrounding and conforming to the exterior surface of the inner tube to frictionally grip upon said inner tube, and power means on said outer tube for actuating said member in one direction in said guide to frictionally grip upon said inner tube.

9. In combination with inner and outer telescopic tubes, a guide casting on the outer tube, a frictional gripping member movable in said casting and having a portion partially surrounding and conforming to tl e ,xterior surface of the inner tube to frictionally grip upon said inner tube, a lever operatively connected to said gripping membe and a power actuated device mounted'on said outer tube for actuating said lever.

10. In combination with inner and outer telescopic tubes, a guide casting on the outer tube, a frictional gripping member movable in said casting and having a portion partially surrounding and conforming to the exterior surface of the inner tube. to frictionally grip upon said inner tube, a lever operatively connected to said gripping member, and a power cylinder pivoted at one end to said outer tube and including a piston rod at its other end connected to said lever.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand, this 13th day of July, 1928.

HARRY W. PROTZELLER.

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